With exactly one month to go until the opening of Paris 2024 on 26th July, East Midlands Chamber is gearing up to support the region’s sporting bodies by supplying a key declaration document needed to take sporting equipment overseas.
ATA Carnets, which allow the temporary import of goods to other countries without paying tax or import duty, have been a requirement at customs desks since the UK left the EU and cover items ranging from instruments for touring musicians to lawn mowers for a landscaper.
East Midlands Chamber International Trade Manager Lucy Granger said: “If you think of athletes going to Paris 2024, a tennis player is going to have to take 25 rackets, others will need canoes, javelins or shot-puts. If there’s a catering company going from the UK, they might be taking a catering truck while events companies might be taking seating. We issue a lot of ATA Carnets for sports equipment, for people going to do racing or canoeing or kayaking which all needs to be covered from a customs perspective. An ATA Carnet is the best way to do it.
“We’ve seen the number of ATA Carnets we issue more than double. Before the UK left the European Union we were probably issuing about 100 a year for the US, India, China, Morrocco and Turkey, whereas now, we’re issuing around 450 carnets a year and 80-90% of those would be for the EU. We issue a lot, for instance, for exhibitions in Italy and Germany – Germany being one of the exhibition capitals of the world.”
To find out more about ATA Carnets click here.
